Playing Games

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2005

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Sumthing Else (SE-2017-2) has released Jack Wall's rich score to the xbox video game, Jade Empire, on CD. The score, an impressive intermingling of orchestral samples and acoustic Chinese instruments, layers a pleasing pattern of redolent atmosphere. The main theme is an ambient 2-tone motif that recurs, like repetitious waves against a jade seashore, if you'll forgive the obvious evocation. The game's Chinese setting is underlined with the prevalent use of Guzheng, Pipa, Suona, Erhu, and other Chinese instruments. The score is more atmospheric than mightily heroic/adventure, providing an exotic background for gameplay, but occasionally reaches some peaks of excitement, as in "Fury, Hammer and Tongs," a vibrant piece for severely stroked violin and Taiko drums. The beauty of the music, however, is in its delicate textures and tonalities; "Anthem of the Tyrant," for example, is a gorgeous motif contrasting a rhythmic, lyrical melody for strings with brusque, descending chords from horns, which remains compellingly melodic despite its heavy discordance; the mood is later abetted by the harsh tonalities of synth choir. "House of the Spirits/The Dark Land" is a mesmerizing concoction of ghostly voices, sinewy flutes, low, cavernous winds, and spooky synths. "Water Dragon Theme" is a languorous movement for synths and low, solo soprano. "Wine and Women" is a thoroughly exotic, ethnic composition that very obviously creates the environment in which the game is set. Some tracks, like "Mischief in the Marsh," "Last Rites/Internment," and "The Hunt" are less enchanting and more monotonous; but such are the minutiae of game scoring, which often must be dependent upon repetitive gameplay rhythms over constantly developing thematic melodies. The second half of "Into the Fray," for example, enlivens greatly with strong orchestral patterns after the insistent percussion rattles that occupy the track's first half, and "Sky Theme" is a wondrously compelling synth melody over lush synths; "Tribute" provides a pleasing heroic theme, slow and venerable, for synths and bamboo flutes. "Soaring/Stormclouds" take that motif into a rising crescendo that is quite stirring. "Torment" echoes the massive chords of something like Poledouris's CONAN THE BARBARIAN in their earthy and percussive rawness; "Sanctuary" concludes the CD with the soft hues of hushed flutes and rushed winds.

Also released by Sumthing Else is Tommy Tallarico's gamescore for Advent Rising, a sci-fi action adventure game for (SE-2019-2; the score and arrangement is co-credited to Michael Richard Plowman on the CD back cover). This is an amazing and unique gamescore, a broad, operatic composition flowing in choral melodies. "Muse" opens the CD with a blaze of passion for escalating choral textures and striking piano

notes; an extremely powerful and potent track. The music proceeds strongly, featuring a true symphony orchestra and chorus; men's, women's, and children's' choirs are featured prominently and powerfully, emphasizing the dynamic and potent drama of the game's cinematics and gameplay. The melody line of "Aurelia" is simply gorgeous, a scintillating melodies that rises and falls quite affectingly; "Greater Lights" features a powerfully invested vocal performance by recording artist Charlotte Martin (a remix version of the song also closes the CD). The music is constantly active, moving, reaching new heights, splendidly invigorating, persuasive, and challenging. "What sets Advent Rising apart from all the other video games I've worked on is the amazing and emotional storyline and images used to evoke a higher level of player immersion," Tallarico writes in the CD booklet. "The amount of emotion and passion used to express the story enabled us to create a romantic and unique soundtrack seldom heard in most game experiences." Advent Rising is easily one of the best and most compelling game soundtrack CDs in recent years this will find frequent turns on your CD deck.

For tracklisting and other details see the official websites:

Jade Empire Original Soundtrack http://www.sumthing.com/catalogue_ItemDetails.aspx?p1=214

For music sampler go to http://store.bioware.com/products/jade_empire/soundtrack.html

Advent Rising Original Soundtrack http://www.sumthing.com/catalogue_ItemDetails.aspx?p1=215

For music sampler go to www.sumthing.com (homepage) & click on the Advent Rising Launch Discovery Module

For a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Advent Rising score, see www.tallarico.com

Jesper Kyd's scores for the Eidos videogames, Hitman: Codename 47 and its sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, have been released on a 2-CD set from La-La

Land Records (LLLCD-1030). The Hitman theme is a riveting synth motif, a percussive rhythm underlying a slowly moving melody for synths that builds an atmospheric attitude of power and mission. This is the music of the hired killer whose assignments are adopted by the gameplayer. The percussive riff creates and sustained an effective repetition for gameplay while the synth tones evoke a compelling sense of confidence in battle. Hitman is a percussive action score, evocative in its moments, but subjugating itself more often to the relentless gunplay of the game. As straightforward action games with a huge variety of international setting, Kyd's music reflects locale as much as it does the enduring clash of gameplay, which keeps the music fresh, interesting, and interesting.

"Each of the 5 main levels has a different set of music cues," Kyd writes of Hitman: Codename 47 in the CD booklet. "I adopted an experimental approach to writing the score: there are epic undertones that accompany the stealth-driven action, while the more suspenseful parts are constant." Of Silent Assassin, Kyd writes: "we wanted to give the game a cinematic, heroic atmosphere, while at the same time have the music reflect the different countries Mr. 47 visits around the world." The tracks on the CD are fairly long (7, 8, 11 minutes), allowing for plenty of development or else sustained minimalism of each cue, making for a pleasing listen of the music on CD, which also includes a couple of early demo versions of some cues later developed more fully. www.lalalandrecords.com

JOE HARNELL: 1924-2005

Joe Harnell, the composer of several classic TV scores such as THE INCREDIBLE HULK, V and THE BIONIC WOMAN, died on Thursday, 14th of July of heart failure at the age of 80.

Born in New York on 2 August 1924, Harnell studied music at the University of Miami before entering the air force and touring with the Glenn Miller Air Force Band in Europe and USA. He continued to study under such prestigious names as Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Sir William Walton in London (later, he also studied under Aaron Copland in USA). Following his return to the US in 1946, Harnell worked as an arranger and director for artists such as Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and Lena Horne.

As a film and television composer, Harnell made an everlasting impression with his end credits music for the INCREDIBLE HULK series - a sad, reflective and beautiful theme for solo piano that will always be remembered as one of American television's most ingenious themes. His other credits include the V miniseries, ALIEN NATION (the 1989 TV movie), TV movies SENIOR TRIP and THE LIBERATORS and series DRACULA '79, THE BIONIC WOMAN and SANTA BARBARA. He also composed the brilliant logo signature for United Artists.

According to Harnell's web site (www.joeharnell.com), funeral services will be private. A memorial celebration will be announced at a later date. Contributions may be made in Joe's name to USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles, CA. Several limited-release CDs of Harnell's music to HULK, V, and other series are still available via his web site.

- via www.musicfromthemovies.com  

FILM MUSIC NEWS

Music from the Movies reports

that Marco Beltrami will score Len Wiseman's UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION, the sequel to the 2003 horror hit, UNDERWORLD, which also stars Kate Beckinsale. The new film expands the battle between the vampires and the werewolves; it's set for a January 2006 release. Beltrami is also scoring RED EYE, which reunites him with his SCREAM director, Wes Craven. www.musicfromthemovies.com

Fresh from scoring THE DEVIL'S REJECTS for rock star/ filmmaker Rob Zombie, composer Tyler Bates appeared last week at Hollywood Book and Poster to sign copies of the score album, available on La--La Land Records. Also on hand were cast members Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Ken Foree, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Michael Berryman, Steve Railsback, Leslie Easterbrook, Matthew McGrory, Priscilla Barnes, Mary Woronov, Diamond Dallas Page and Daniel Roebuck. With such strong support from both the actors and the 400 fans who showed, the event was one of the biggest the store had hosted in years. "It was a huge success, one of the best in-stores ever," said Ken Leight, Hollywood Book and Poster's event coordinator. "The actors stayed hours longer so that the fans could all get autographs and everyone left happy. It felt like a family affair."

"We are honored to have taken part in this signing event with Tyler Bates, says Michael Gerhard, President of Tyler's label, La-La Land Records. "It's great to see the fans are as excited about the release of his 'Devil's Rejects' score as we are."

The film is the sequel to the cult classic NIGHT OF 1000 CORPSES. One part horror

film, one part Western, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a story of madness, murder and revenge, continuing the story of the Dr. Satan cult murders. Bates' score for REJECTS capitalizes on the bloodlust, fear and frenzy of Zombie's terrifying story. Massive percussion sections pound foreboding threats to powerless cowards, while menacing orchestration fuels the fury of enraged killers. Bates sets the tone for ominous hunts, desperate escapes and violent confrontations.

Nearly 200 musicians including choir performed the World Premiere earlier this month in Rome of The Passion of The Christ Symphony, under the direction of the Academy-Award nominated film composer John Debney. After the concert ended, the applause continued with a 15 minute standing ovation. "It is my honor to be premiering the work in Rome with one of the world's pre-eminent orchestras and...choir," said Debney. "The Passion of the Christ Symphony is something I have wanted to do ever since I composed the musical score to Mel Gibson's film." The symphony is a major new work based on and drawing from themes Debney composed for the film, the score for which won Debney an Academy Award nomination earlier this year. "It is a new work in seven movements expressing the Passion in an emotional and spiritually uplifting way," Debney said. "It is intended as a work of deep faith for Christians as well as people of all faiths to help foster a turning back to God. It's also intended to bring the experience of the film to a very broad audience sharing the universal ideals of Love, Faith, Hope and Mercy." The RIAA Gold-Certified THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST original soundtrack recording on Sony Music/Integrity topped Billboard's Soundtrack Chart its first full week of sales and remained number one for weeks. The album beat the first week numbers of such notable score successes as LORD OF THE RINGS and HARRY POTTER. The film has grossed over half a billion dollars at the box office worldwide.

Three film music organizations, UCMF (France), CC Composers-Club (Germany) and Musimagen (Spain), have formed the European Federation for Music in Film. Their first initiative is to launch an International Festival of Music in Film, to be arranged in Paris next year. The event is supposed to be annual, continuing in Spain 2007 and Germany 2008. In a statement, the organization wrote: "This amalgamation will allow to assert the specificity of the film music composer profession, to reinforce the dialogue with producers, publishers and broadcasters, to enrich the respective professional cultures, to be heard by European instances, and to facilitate exchanges and mobility at a time of international co-productions. The creation of a European Federation for Music in Film is hence the opportunity to build a strong and coherent artistic pole at the service of cultural diversity."

Another composer whose work has been adapted a notable film score into another medium is Danny Elfman, whose a ballet version of EDWARD SCISSORHANDS opens on November 22 in London. Elfman's music was adapted by composer Terry Davies, and the show will be choreographed by Matthew Bourne see: www.edwardscissorhands.co.uk

Varese Sarabande will issue Trevor Rabin's score to THE GREAT RAID on August

16th, four days after the film's release. Set in the Philippines in 1945, THE GREAT RAID tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt), which undertakes a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling 30 miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever. Directed by John Dahl (Rounders, Joy Ride), the film also stars James Franco (SPIDER-MAN), Joseph Fiennes (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and Connie Nielsen (GLADIATOR). The epic score for choir and orchestra is described as "majestic and inspiring." Varese will also release the score to the high-flying action thriller, STEALTH, by BT (MONSTER) on August 30th.

Italy's Digitmovies announces the availability of new Euroshock soundtracks by Riz

Ortolani. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, a wonderfully eclectic soundtrack to Ruggero Deodato's notoriously graphic gut-munching shocker from 1980, and DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING/WEB OF THE SPIDER, two superb giallo/horror soundtracks on one CD - Lucio Fulci's "Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino" (1972) and Antonio Margheriti's "Nella Stretta Morsa Del Ragno" (1971). Also available is the score to PENSIONE PAURA (HOTEL FEAR), Spanish composer Adolfo Waitzman's previously unreleased soundtrack to Francesco Barilli's cult noir/horror movie from 1978. Available from: www.moviegrooves.com

ArkSquare announces the availability of a Japanese-exclusive release of the original soundtrack from AEGIS, a large scaled war action movie scored by Trevor Jones, whose "dynamic, symphonic score" was performed by London Symphony Orchestra. www.arksquare.com

GAMES MUSIC NEWS

Winifred Phillips' has scored an original musical score for the CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY movie tie-in videogame developed by High Voltage Software and published by Global Star/Warner Bros. Director Tim Burton personally listened to all of Winifred Phillips' music for the game, and gave his stamp of approval to each and every track she wrote. Winifred had the privilege and pleasure of creating music for Tim's approval while he was also working with Danny Elfman on the score for the CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY movie. The score also features an extraordinary amount of original choral music, giving the score for the game a unique and distinctive sound. Winifred employed unusual and sometimes quirky nonsense syllables in creating the humorous choral passages for the game. Some of these passages were very fast and vocally difficult, as the voices were used in elaborate three-part counterpoint at breakneck speeds or short precision accents in full harmony. Winifred wrote many gentle choral passages featuring an ethereal women's choir, and also created storm-and-fury choral music for the most intense moments of the game. An accomplished multimedia composer and vocal performer, Winifred wrote over seventy tracks for the game. In addition to her role as sole composer, Winifred performed all the vocal parts of the women's choir featured extensively in the score of the game. For more information visit www.winifredphillips.com.

Recommended Soundtrack sources:
www.buysoundtrax.com  
www.intrada.com  
www.screenarchives.com  
www.footlight.com  
www.arksquare.com/index_main.html  (Japan)
www.intermezzomedia.com  (Italy)
www.moviegrooves.com  
www.moviemusic.com

For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com